June 3: Leaders of the ruling parties have expressed their dissatisfaction over the increase in the size of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2022/23 unveiled by the government and the programmes included in it. The government presented the budget for the upcoming fiscal year by increasing the size by one and a half billion rupees as compared to the current fiscal year.

In a meeting of the federal parliament held on Thursday, lawmaker of the ruling Nepali Congress Gagan Thapa asked the finance minister the reason for increasing the size of the budget.

Thapa said that although the principles adopted by the government and its priorities included in budget were reasonable, he raised questions regarding the government’s ability to spend and resource management for the budget. He stated that the increase in the size of the budget raised questions in its implementation.

“Last year's budget is yet to be spent. What is the basis for spending the increased budget?” said Thapa. The government has allocated capital expenditure of Rs. 380.38 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. Out of Rs 378 billion allocated in the current fiscal year, only 33 percent has been spent so far. Thapa also demanded an answer from the Finance Minister over resource management. Thapa questioned the basis of foreign grants.

“This year, Rs 24 billion out of Rs 63 billion was received. What is the basis for receiving Rs 55 in the upcoming fiscal year? What is the basis of transparency in budget implementation?” he questioned.

Thapa, who is also a former health minister, criticized the government for not understanding the works related to insurance and said that it has plans to hand over the insurance sector to the companies.

Participating in the discussion on the budget, an MP from the main opposition CPN (UML) and former foreign minister Pradip Gyawali also questioned the budget brought by the government. Gyawali suggested the government and the leaders of the ruling parties not to pursue big plans to meet political ends.

“You are saying that you will increase foreign investment, but your actions are constantly discouraging foreign investors. MCC was the centre of conflict until recently, but you still passed the MCC, and I thank you for that,” said Gyawali. According to him, those who come to invest in Nepal aim to make profit. So, the investment environment should not be disturbed by making the foreign investment policy unstable.